Diligently consider this...

You most likely already know that I'm a big advocate for journaling. Not only does it keep our thoughts focused and help us process, but journals are SO good to read over on a regular basis. They are PROOF that our Abba Father is hearing and answering prayers, that Jesus is teaching you how to follow Him better, and that Holy Spirit is indeed transforming your life. I think that the neglect to read back over your journals or even just taking time to really reflect on what the Lord's been doing makes it so much harder to grow in your faith. It's a spiritual discipline that is an encouragement to us that God really does notice us. It's what we needs to persevere. :)

Another thing that journaling does is it teaches us to truly follow God's will for us in 1 Thes. 5:16-18.
Rejoice always. Pray continually. Be thankful in all circumstances. 
Everyone knows what holiday is next month. It's a great reason to re-focus your life on thankfulness in ALL circumstances. The Lord has been showing me lately how that is so totally connected to Paul's words in Phil. 4:11--"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstance." We cannot be content without being thankful. The two go hand-in-hand.

Even though it's not November, I wanted to start recording my thankfulness early! Why not, right?? Plus I want to encourage anyone reading this to do the same! For extra motivation, check out Psalm 107. The verses in the photograph are from the very beginning and end of Psalm 107. Check out all the verses in between. They are specific reasons for the Israelites to be thankful for the Lord's constant goodness, His mercy, and His loving-kindness.

So not only does recording reasons to be thankful make us more thankful, it also teaches us to be content in every situation, AND like the verse says, it's what anyone who is wise does. Whoever is wise diligently considers what the Lord has done.
The Dictionary definition of diligent is Marked by persevering, painstaking effort. How diligent are you in considering what the Lord is doing in your life? Make November the month that you re-commit to that and you'll automatically reap a life of thankfulness & contentment! :)

Lessons from the Prairie...Part 2

This is another flower in the prairie. They're not near in abundance as the Maximillian sunflowers, and I don't remember their name, but they smell good. Like, really, really good.

In fact, I tried to pick one so I could have my apartment smelling all nice & fragrant, but there were a ridiculous amount of bees, wasps, and other insects all over it. Soooo obviously I didn't take it. But this clearly shows how good smelling these flowers are!

Editors note: You might notice in the picture that there aren't any bugs, but this was a week or two after and they no longer had a fragrance. Just sayin'...

Anyway, you may be aware that Iowa is quite breezy. And I'm sure that those of us who are aware have mixed feelings about that fact. BUT if it wasn't for the wind, I'd never be able to smell the wonderful fragrance of these flowers. I'm definitely not going to stick my nose by one that's covered in bees! So the winds do a splendid job of blowing the fragrance for me to enjoy. I suppose if these flowers had any mind of their own, they would prefer for the winds blowing on them to be nice and gentle and warm and refreshing all the time. But as for me--the one walking through the prairie--I'm okay with the big gushes of wind that blow the plant halfway over and are maybe even a bit cold. Whatever it takes for the full effect of the fragrance to reach my nostrils for me to enjoy!

And now cue in the actual "lesson from the prairie" If you've read some my previous posts, you'll recall that I've talked about us being each individual gardens for our Beloved to walk in and enjoy just like He did in the Garden of Eden. The bride in Song of Songs 4 says to her Bridegroom:

Awake, north wind,

    and come, south wind!
Blow on my garden,
    that its fragrance may spread everywhere.
Let my beloved come into his garden
and taste its choice fruits.

How much enjoyment is Jesus getting from your garden? That's what tasting choice fruits means. Have you ever realized that YOU are His inheritance? How much of His inheritance--your heart--is He receiving from you? Don't just scan over these sentences. Really think about it & ask Holy Spirit to reveal how much. How much do you want Him to have? Tell Him that, too. He knows already, but it's good to communicate.:)

I was reading a book today that just so happened to talk about Song of Songs 4, and I loved the way that the author put it:

    When we can ask for both winds--His dealings and His blessings--we are saying to Jesus, "If You love me so much, I know it's safe to be Yours. I deeply trust You. I'm not afraid of difficult circumstances. You do not give anything that takes away real life. You have guarded my every step." 
    We can trust our Beloved absolutely. Therefore, we are not afraid to pray this prayer: "I love You, Jesus. I want all my immaturity to be gone. I want my heart to be yoked with Your heart. Your inheritance in me is the most important thing in my life. Therefore, awake, O north wind!" 
    The bride says, "Make my garden breathe out fragrance...May my beloved come into His garden and eat its choice fruits." She wants her beloved to get His full inheritance from her life. 

I couldn't say it better myself, so I'll leave it with that. :) From this day on, I hope that every time you smell something that's so pleasing to you--whether it's flowers, a bonfire, vanilla lotion, or pork chops--that your thoughts become a prayer for Jesus to send north & south winds that blow the pleasing fragrance of your heart for Him to enjoy & receive His full inheritance in you.

Lessons from the Prairie...Part 1

This is Dordt's Prairie. I spend a great amount of my free time walking through here. I mean, how could I not?? Just look at it! I think it's quite possibly my favorite place in Sioux Center. Plus, I know that all these flowers and the nice warm weather will not last much longer, so I'm trying to take advantage of it as much as possible while I can.

While going on these many walks, I've thought of few analogies... If you've read other posts of mine, you'd know that I've been mentioning the garden-heart analogy quite a bit. :)

When I walk through the prairie and look around, the one word that comes to mind is JOY. Everywhere I look, there's bright yellow flowers. They're nothing fancy or spectacular individually, but when they're all combined together, they're so beautiful to me. And I think that yellow is the perfect color choice for them. They just wouldn't be the same if there were a bunch of pink, blue, white, or purple flowers. Yellow is perfect. (But I could be biased because it's my favorite color.)

So one of my prayers while I'm looking around, taking it all in, is that when God walks through the garden of my heart, that He finds great joy in what He sees. I want Him to come into His garden, look around everywhere, and be so full of delight. I ask Him to do whatever He needs to my heart in order for it to be the most enjoyable for Him.

Does anyone have a guess what Dordt does to sections of their prairie each year in order to encourage the "natural" cycle? They burn it. I'm not going go get into all the science behind it, but I do know that if they didn't burn it, the prairie would not look like it does right now. It needs to be burned in order to be more beautiful.

And isn't that so true of our hearts, too? God burns our hearts with His fire! If He didn't, our hearts wouldn't be as beautiful. So the question is--What do we want more--a beautiful heart or a more comfortable life without any painful burning? We all know what we're supposed to say, but what really is your deepest desire?

You can start by telling Jesus that you want your deepest desire to be for Him to delight in your heart. You can tell Him that you want to be willing to let Him do whatever it takes to make your heart the most beautiful for Him. You can ask Him to burn up everything in your heart that is not pleasing to Him--no matter how painful it is to you or how much it costs you. You can tell Him that you want to better recognize how extremely worth it He is!

I can tell you that He will be so delighted in your willing heart of submission and will gladly step in to work on your garden more! :)